Programme Notes

Two-by-Four is a chamber concerto for marimba soloist and eight accompanying players. The title refers both whimsically to the wooden bars of the marimba and to the division of the ensemble into two groups of four players each. It also alludes to the idea of a "two-by-four" as a foundation in construction. Whether in music or in architecture, these building blocks provide the scaffolding around which the rest of the work is fashioned. Here, this skeleton is represented by the high sustained string sound.

With a nod to Classical concerto form, Two-by-Four is a single-movement work comprised of three main sections, plus an introduction and two cadenzas. The opening clarinet motive generates the basic intervallic resources for the piece, and leads into the slow introduction, which sets in motion the subtle and gradual colour changes that develop through the whole work. The woodwinds and brass foreshadow upcoming elements. The marimba then leads directly into the first (unaccompanied) cadenza, which also encapsulates elements of the later sections. The cadenza segues into the first main section: a slow movement that gradually builds in intensity over a large arch, then subsides into the second cadenza, which is accompanied by the sustained strings and clarinet. The cadenza is frequently interrupted by staccato outbursts from the flute, which the marimba and clarinet eventually join. This leads into the second movement, which is a bluesy moderato, and which proceeds directly into the finale. This concluding presto features rapid-fire solo passages, representing the culminating transformation of the opening motive.